First blood goes to Barca in controversial derby

It was Neymar who got Barca on the scoreboard first with a sublime goal that beat Diego López at his far post. Iniesta was the player to provide the assist to the Brazilian who was on his left. Neymar picked up the ball and calmly picked his spot at the Real Madrid keeper’s far post. The crowd went wild as Neymar got the Catalans off to a great start after 18 minutes of play.

Barca then had to wait until the 78th minute to make it 2-0.But what a goal it was! Neymar put Alexis through on his own but Varane held him up on the edge of the box to stop a one on one with Diego López. That didn’t stop the Chilean as he saw the Madrid keeper off his line and produced a lovely chip that flew over his head to make it 2-0. This was the spectacle that the fans had come to see.

To be honest, it was a game that could have gone either way as moments before Alexis’ goal, Benzema hit the crossbar.

There was controversy too. Javier Mascherano clearly fouled Cristiano Ronaldo in the box for a clear penalty which was seen by all except the referee. the Argentine may have calmed down but he was one of the most dirtiest players in the Premier League with his time at West Ham United and Liverpool. Mascherano had the worst disciplinary record of the 2009–10 Premier League season with seven yellow cards and two red.

But it was up to Jesse to grab a consolation goal for Real Madrid towards the end of the match in the 90th minute. Cristiano Ronaldo ran up the left and found Jesse running up the middle to pass to. Jess received the ball and rifled his shot under Valdés giving him little chance to stop it.

That was it. The first Clasico of Martino’s era and it all ends well for Barcelona. Neymar and Alexis were the stars of the show with Andres Iniesta’s fine performance bringing up the rear.

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Valora en Bitacoras.com: It was a superb derby match on Saturday and a baptism of fire for the new managers of both sides.The “Clasico” ended in a 2-1 win for the Catalan giants and as per usual, it was not a game for the faint-hearted as it was full…